The Tale of Naruto Uzumaki
by Nagato Uzumaki
Summary: Naruto Uzumaki, jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Yoko and son of Minato Namikaze, the fourth Hokage. Throughout the ages, all who were truly great and legendary had been forged from the hottest of fires. Konoha was just the inferno responsible for shaping Naruto into a champion the world so desperately needed. No parings yet.


**NOT A CHAPTER UPDATE. I JUST NOTICED SOME ISSUES IN PRESENTATION AND I FIXED THOSE.**

* * *

Hey everyone, whats up?

I know it's been ages. Nearly five years since my last story.

Now, there are a few things I'd like to say before I begin. First off, my old story sucked ass. I mean, it was so bad, that Satan himself would take a shit on it and laugh. Honestly, what was I thinking 'Fire styel: blazin sunrise ehehheehhe'. God, it makes me depressed to even think about it.

But, since then, I've refined my writing ability. However, this is still my 'first' real story. So spare me if I mess up. I'm also going to need a beta reader if anyone wants to volunteer, English isn't my first language.

Secondly, expect this story to be epic in length. I'm thinking around 1.5 million words when it finishes.

Now, as for updates, you're going to have to give me a pass when it comes to those. I have exams coming up soon and it was stupid of me to publish this right now. But, the idea wouldn't just leave my head. So, for now, expect irregular updates but in June, you guys can start expecting updates every three or four days.

Now, I just want to clarify a few things. Naruto is not going to be godly strong in this story, all that's changed is that he has a reason to focus and reach his dreams other than 'hurr durr RESPACT MEEE!'. Of course, we'll see his stupid side as well, Naruto may be focused but he can't be focused all the time. I mean, look at me, I have exams in three days but here I am on fanfiction.

Anyway you guys are probably tired of me yapping, so without further ado, here is 'The Tale of Naruto Uzumaki'.

Oh yeah, and I don't own Naruto.

xxXxx

**_Prologue  
The Will of Fire_**

Naruto Uzumaki was alone.

There was truth in those rotten words. Naruto Uzumaki was completely and utterly alone. For as long as Naruto could remember, he had no one. No one to rely on, no one to look to for guidance and no one to stand alongside him.

When he left the orphanage two years ago, he had hoped things would change. He had hoped, desired and dreamed that once he left that hellhole of a 'home', he would be free to forge his own path. That he would be free to make friends and find people who would care for him. That he would no longer have to suffer from the painful loneliness that had plagued him for as long as he could remember.

As Naruto stood on top of the head of the Yondaime Hokage, Naruto saw the village bathed in the golden glow of the sunrise. The village, the same village that despised him. The same village within which he had never found peace. The same village that had transitioned from his home, to his cage.

After leaving the orphanage, Naruto had desperately hoped that he could begin anew. Have a fresh start. Yet, it was only after leaving that Naruto realized how foolish he had been. Parents would shoo him away from their children. Children would run at the mere sight of him and even the people in the streets would look at him with scorn in their eyes.

It was all Naruto had wanted, really! All he wanted were people to talk to. But, these days, even the Hokage, the one man he had lovingly though of as family for his whole life, seemed to be to busy to see him. It seemed to Naruto, that the same village he dreamed of protecting one day, refused to give him what he truly wanted. A home. A place to belong. A place where people welcome you with open arms. A place that-

"What are you doing up here, boy?"

Startled, Naruto abruptly turned around. He didn't expect anyone else to be here this early. The Hokage Monument was usually only visited during the night. However, the stranger and Naruto both seemed to be exceptions to that particular rule.

As Naruto looked over the newcomer, he was a bit puzzled. He was sure he had seen him somewhere before but couldn't place the thought. He held a mahogany walking stick in his right hand, mainly due to the fact that his left hand was in a cast. His hair was pushed upwards by the thick bandages that encompassed

His left eye and circled around his forehead.

After the momentary shock wore off, Naruto indignantly replied, "I'm the one who should be asking what you're doing up here? Plus, I come here all the time and I've never seen you here before, so just who are you?".

Opening his one visible eye, the stranger replied, "Me? My name is Shimura Danzo? As for your previous question, I take a walk around my village every morning, I just decided to come here to enjoy the sunrise."

Eyes widening in realization, Naruto finally remembered where he had seen Danzo before, it was in the Hokage's office two or three years ago. While it may have been nearly three years since he had seen the man, Naruto remembered that he and the Hokage did not seem to be having a pleasant conversation.

"Ohhh. That makes sense. So what's-", suddenly Naruto was struck by a strange thought, "Wait. What did you mean just now, you just called it 'my village'?".

Danzo raised an eyebrow at his question and, after a moment of hesitation, spoke, "Well, it's my village after all. And yours. And everyone else who lives here. We all protect it, it is our home. It is a place we can retreat to, a land that knows no boundaries apart fem those set in our hearts. A place in which all of us can enjoy the peace and live our lives."

At this, Naruto's eyes fell downwards. Home. How he longed for home. How he longed for a place where he could be accepted, a place where he could…belong.

Sensing his downcast mood, Danzo crouched down to Naruto's level and spoke, "Tell me Naruto-kun, do you wish to become a shinobi?"

At this, Naruto's mood instantly perked up. "Yeah! Definitely. I'm going to be the best Hokage there ever was!".

At this, Danzo's mood changed. He opened his one eye, gazing into Naruto penetratively. His entire demeanour seemed to shift into a much more hardened state, a stark contrast from the 'old man' feeling he had been radiating earlier.

"Why?".

"Huh?", the question confused Naruto, why? Well, why wouldn't everyone want to be Hokage?

"I asked you why you aspired to become Hokage?".

"What's aspired mean?", Naruto replied blankly.

"Let me rephrase that, it seems my dealings with Shibi have left me with his accursed habit of overindulging in words", Danzo said as he let out a sigh.

"I asked you why you wanted to become the Hokage, it is a great burden to carry?"

"Oh, well, because if I become Hokage, then everyone's gonna have to respect me. I'll be the coolest ever. No one can ignore me after that!", Naruto energetically replied, his voice practically brimming with enthusiasm.

Danzo 'tted' and stood up.

"Tell me Naruto-kun. What do you see down there.", Danzo asked Naruto whilst pointing his cane towards the village.

It took Naruto some time, but he eventually found what Danzo was referring to. Near the base of the Hokage monument was a small family of four. A young girl and her little brother chased each other in circles, whilst their parents seemed to be sighing and begging them to stop.

The scene filled Naruto with envy and longing. He had always desired a family above everything else. He had always wanted people who would love him unconditionally; people show would save him from being alone.

"I see… a family." Naruto slowly replied.

"Thats right, now tell me, how would you feel if the parents of that family were murdered?", Danzo suddenly asked.

"What!", the declaration of surprise was well evident on Naruto's face. He quickly stood up in outrage, trembling with horror and anger.

"How could you even say that? Thats awful. The kid's would be left all alone. They wouldn't have anyone left!" Naruto exclaimed.

Suddenly, the man's face broke into a thin smile. This confused Naruto, what did this guy even mean?

"Exactly, there are thousands of those type of people in the village, Naruto. A Hokage like you, one that lives only for himself would be no Hokage at all. A Hokage lives not for himself, but for the lives of those millions that lay before him. Those small millions that make up the village. That is a Hokage. A man that lives for that Village. A man that does what he must, even if it means to surrender his _own _family. A man that carries on, not because he wishes to, but because he must."

For a moment, the boy did not speak. Naruto didn't even move. The words hit him hard. 'A man that lives for the village', the words rang out in his head, sinking in slowly.

Naruto was lost in thought, until he felt a hand slowly place itself on his head. He looked up to see the strange, scar-faced

stranger staring at him impassively.

"Well Naruto-Kun? Do you think that you could truly become Hokage?", Danzo asked, this time however, he spoke more slowly. Allowing the question to penetrate Naruto to the very depth of his being.

For a moment, he was silent. Thoughts twisted and turned in his mind. The words of the stranger rang out in his mind. Could he truly live for a million, to carry their hopes and dreams and to exchange his happiness for theirs?

"Yeah. You bet. I'll be the best Hokage there ever was! And thats a promise!", Naruto spoke confidently, lifting his chin to look the stranger in the eyes.

For a moment, Danzo was stunned. His one eyes opened in shock and as he gazed into the determined gaze of one Uzumaki Naruto, he was suddenly reminded of a much younger version of himself, sitting on this exact spot alongside his best friend. How he remembered that once his eyes were filled with the same might and determination as were this young child's. How long ago had it been? How long ago had he himself made that same promise. How the years pass…

Suddenly, the man's face broke into a smile. He ruffled Naruto's hair and said, "Well then Naruto-Kun, I look forward to seeing you at the top!", he chuckled and continued ,"Now, if you don't mind. It's getting late and I need to get to work. So, if you don't mind, could you hand me my walking stick".

A little overwhelmed by the strangers sudden change in demeanour, Naruto was motionless for a moment before his senses returned to him.

"Oh! Sure, here you go", Naruto said as he lifted the, surprisingly, heavy stick towards the man.

As Danzo took the stick, he quickly placed a coin in Naruto's hand. Naruto was surprised by how nice this man had been to him so far, but he was not going to accept anyone's charity.

"Hey, Jiji, I don't need your money", Naruto said as the man prepared to take off.

"I'm sorry Naruto-Kun, but that isn't parting money, thats a gift if you ever need to see me agin. And remember, a tree is only as strong as it's roots, even if the roots must remain cloaked in darkness to ensure the survival of the sun-bathed leaves", Danzo replied, an underling tone of bitterness emitted from him as he ended his response.

Naruto looked down at the coin, he was surprised to see that it was a simple, gold coin with a leaf insignia inscribed in the centre on both sides. As Naruto looked up to thank the old man for his gift, he was surprised to see that he was no longer there.

"Huh? That was weird", Naruto said before he pocketed the coin. As he turned towards the village again, Naruto was once again lost in thought at the words of the stranger. 'A man who lives not for himself, but for the village, that is a Hokage'.

And so, it was on this day, unbeknownst to anyone, that the will of a legend was born

_Six Years Later…_

The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, the breeze was blowing. All in all, it was a perfect day to be a citizen of the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Normal, happy people walked throughout the bustling village. It seemed that nothing could go wrong on this perfect day.

Suddenly, two shouts rang out throughout the village as clear as day and that was no longer the case. As people turned their heads towards the noise, their ears were suddenly assaulted by a the sounds of a giant explosion.

Before people could even allow the panic to set it, a huge torrent of water seemed to collapse around them, nearly flooding the entire Market Square. People's screams of indignation and terror soon doubled as the struggled to stay afloat in the newly made receiver of water.

Before the reality of what was even happening could sink in, a black blur suddenly jumped out from the centre of the explosion. Using the force of the bomb to propel himself, he landed squarely on the head of one of the many unlucky members of the village that seemed to be caught in the new lake.

Acting quickly, the man moved with shin obi like speed, leaping from head to head (earning a shout of distain from each one), before reaching the rooftops. Quickly, he took out a fistful of strange tags with kanji inscribed on them, and began to survey his surroundings.

'Alright, base perimeter seems like 150 feet, so the ninja are probably going to have to help the civilians out before they come after me. Thats means I've got enough time to make it to the academy without being seen as the prime suspect', he thought as the began to set one of the strange tags under his feet. Thinking quickly, he began hopping from rooftop to rooftop and with, a bit of difficulty, placed one of his tags on each rooftop he jumped on.

He relaxed, hoping he had, for the very first time, made a clean getaway. Slowing down he looked behind him. it was clear, nobody was following him. Taking a breather, he stopped upon one of the rooftops. Allowing himself a momen-

"THERE HE HIS! GET THAT BRAT NOW!", someone suddenly shouted from behind him.

'Well… fuck'.

As three shinobi moved in to surround him, he quickly held his hands up in a defensive stance.

"Maa, maw guys. Relax, it was all a little harmless fun!", he tried to defend himself, oblivious to the fact that it was not working.

"ARE YOU CRAZY! YOU CAUSED A GODDAMN FLOOD IN THE MARKET SQUARE!" on of his captors shouted, before passing and continuing, "How'd you even do that Uzumaki?".

Upon catching him, the three Chunin were treated to an unmistakablekeble sight. The person in front of them wore a black t-shirt with a red whirlpool on his back, along with his 'kill-me' orange pants, they had just run into Naruto Uzumaki, resident village pariah and self proclaimed Hokage, who smiled at his captors before running a hand through his sun-kissed blond hair.

"Well, you see. What I did…", he paused. The three chunnin seemed to drop their guard as they waited for his answer, now, Naruto knew it was time to act.

Quickly throwing down the fistful of remaining tags he had in his hand, Naruto jumped up and quickly made a tiger seal before they could react. Sucking in his breath at the same time.

The chunnin's eyes widened in horror as the mass of tags that Naruto had just rained down upon them began to glow with a bright yellow light. 'Explosive tags! Holy fuck that kid's finally gone insane'. Before he could even move, the tags activated.

All that was heard from then on were the last screams of horror of the chunnin that had dared to oppose Uzumaki Naruto.

xxXxx

"What on Earth were you thinking, Naruto!", Iruka shouted at him.

Naruto sighed. After his bout with the chunnin, Iruka, of all people, had managed to show up and catch him. He didn't know why, but out of all the ninja sent to find him, Iruka was the only one that successfully managed to do it. Now, Iruka had insisted on dragging him to the Academy to discipline him in front of the entire class.

"You blew up those horrid tags throughout the village! What on Earth is wrong with that head of yours!", Iruka shouted at him,

this time really expecting an answer. Naruto was silent for a while, letting his classmates laugh it out. When all was silent, Naruto replied.

"Well, you see Iruka sensei. This is all really your fault".

Everyone burst out laughing, knowing that Uzumaki was going to get it bad.

"Naruto… Please clarify on what you meant very, very soon or else I will hang you upside down from the Hokage monument. Again", Iruka said, gritting his teeth. The vein mark on his forehead seemed to be growing even more than usual.

"Heh, Heh. You see sensei. Last week, you were telling us about how using chakra can be really dangerous if you try to apply it to a… a…, what was that word you said?", Naruto sheepishly replied.

"Volatile", Iruka was beginning to calm down. Maybe this was all an accident.

"Yeah, volatile. So, just to test it out. I took around 18,000 water balloons and put them in the sewer under the market. You know, the one right under the pothole. And then, I decided to not do it", Naruto continued.

'Huh, so maybe this is all a big misunderstanding', Iruka

thought as his temper cooled down.

"So yeah, I stopped. Because, if you're going to do something bad… then you should go all the way! I added about twenty thousand more balloons to it. Man! It was tough to fill up. My fingers are still all wrinkly from all the water I had to go through".

At this, Iruka, and almost everyone in the classroom face-palmed at what Naruto said.

"Detention Narto. For… ever", Iruka spoke dejectedly. Naruto hadn't done any pranks for the past two weeks. He had really thought that he had gotten through to him.

"Yessir, sensei", Naruto said with a cheery mock salute. As he began to walk towards his seat, a thought popped up into his mind.

"Hey sensei", Naruto said, turning around. "Don't you wanna know how I made those cool tags".

This surprised Iruka and the entire class. From what the class had heard, Naruto had taken out three full blown chunin with those tags. Was it possible that Naruto had really made an ultimate ninja tool which allowed someone like him, an academy student, to take on three chunin and come out the winner?

"Alright, Naruto. Enlighten us. How did you 'make' those tags?", Iruka questioned, making sure the skepticism in his voice was entire class seemed to be waiting on Naruto for the answer, a fact that Naruto was obviously enjoying.

"Well, around three weeks ago, I snuck into the Yamanaka flower shop and took a bunch of manure-".

Naruto was cut short when another blond haired, blue-eyed ninja-in-training stood up and shouted in indignation.

"HEY! THAT WAS YOU!", Ino Yamanaka shouted.

"Hold on Ino, let Naruto finish", Iruka stated, intrigued by what Naruto had done.

"Right, so I knew that manure really stinks. I mean, like, it realllllyyy stinks. Bad. Anyway, I figured out how to 'extract' the manure stinky stuff from it. I remembered you telling us how to make healing ointment from some plants in class like a month ago. So I used the same idea. Except that didn't work. No. It did not work…", Naruto paused, seeming lost in thought, a deep, contemplating look came over him as he continuously muttered, 'it did not work..'.

"Naruto", Iruka said as he walked over to him and poked him in the forehead, finally snapping Naruto out of his daze.

"Huh. Right so, I used a new thing I got from the ninja tools store, don't ask", Naruto paused. Iruka raised an eyebrow at this, as it was technically illegal for students to buy ninja tools.

"Then I managed to make some manure extract. After that, I basically took a bunch of explosive ta-", Naruto paused at this, realizing that he has said something he really shouldn't have.

"Naruto", Iruka began, "were you just about to say 'explosive tags'? Because if memory serves right, an academy student buying explosive tags, or coming into possession of them any other way is liable for expulsion?", Iruka sternly asked Naruto.

"Huh, what? No way. Anyway, I was just messing with you. I bought these off a traveling merchant who said they were from Suna. Yeah, thats right. I just bought em", Naruto sheepishly said as he backed away from Iruka.

"Uh-huh. Anyway, go sit down. Class is starting", Iruka said, hoping to put this whole matter behind him.

Naruto let out a sigh of relief and immediately went up to join his classmates. Skipping several rows of students, Naruto went to the row at the back, where only one more student was seated, Sasuke Uchiha.

For a while, neither of them said anything. They simply listened as Iruka dawned on an on about something that happened at Tenchi Bridg. Then Sasuke spoke.

"Well… Did your 'brilliant' idea work?", Sasuke asked without turing his eyes away from the board.

Naruto sighed and said, "Well, yes and no. It did blow up-".

"Like I said it would", Sasuke interrupted.

Naruto shot him a dirty look that said 'shut it', and continued,"Yeah, BUT it did manage to stick to everything like I said it would. The water was weird. It just wouldn't go down the pothole, it just… stuck to the walls", Naruto finished a bit slowly.

Sasuke was silent for a moment before he spoke up, "Thats probably because of the mass of chakra that you pumped into it", he said with a tone of finality.

Naruto looked to be deep in thought before he just shrugged and decided to put the matter to rest.

For the next hour, neither of them said anything to each other. Naruto wasn't sure what his relationship with Sasuke Uchiha was. He wasn't sure if they were friends, rivals or just plain old acquaintances.

However, he very clearly remembered the day his 'friendship' with Sasuke Uchiha had begun.

_Flashback- Two Years Ago_

_Ninja Academy_

"Alright class, lets go outside for a while, today is the big day you've all been waiting for, today, you learn ninjutsu".

Iruka's statement led to several 'whoops' and cheers from most of the students. After two years of learning only taijustsu and chakra theory, today they were going to finally put their knowledge to the test and learn ninjutsu. Anyone could learn a few fancy martial arts moves, and even most civilians knew about chakra but the real mark and identifier of a ninja was the fittingly named ninjutsu.

As the class filtered out into the training field, the teachers could feel the raw enthusiasm in the air, their excitement was palpable.

"Alright class, line up horizontally", as the class began to diffuse at Iruka's words, he waited for them to settle down for his next statement.

"Now then. I know that some of you are from shinobi families and your that your parents have taught you some basic ninjutuse. So, anyone who knows any, could you please come up here and demonstrate", Iruka said with a tone of finality.

The students began to chatter amongst themselves as a few of them stepped forward. Uzumaki Naruto, however, was not one of them. Despite his best efforts, he had never managed to get his hands on a ninjutsu scroll, this would be his first chance to see a real ninja technique up close.

As four students all stepped forward at once, Iruka whistled.

"Wow, I didn't expect so many of you to know ninjutsu so early on. But, the fact that you're all from prominent clans explains that I guess. Alright, first up, Inuzuka Kiba", Iruka said as the four of them stepped up to him.

"Yahoo! Lets show these chumps whats what, c'mon out Akamaru!", Kiba shouted, practically brimming with enthusiasm at being given the chance to show off in front of the whole class.

As Kiba walked towards the middle of the field, Akamaru jumped out of his coat pocket, and began to run alongside him. When they reached the middle, Kia took a deep breath and looked to Iruka for confirmation to begin.

Iruka caught Kiba's and nodded in response.

A grin broke out on Kiba's face as he got ready to begin. "Alright Akamaru, lets go!", quickly gathering his chakra, Kiba closed his eyes and began to channel it deep within him. Making the tiger hand seal, Kiba suddenly shouted,"**Jūjin Bunshin**!". At his words, Akamaru did a quick jump and was soon surrounded by a large plume of thick, white smoke.

As the smoke cleared, the class began to clap and cheer for Kiba. Where there was Kiba and Akamaru, there were now two Kiba's.

Iruka joined in the cheering by clapping and giving Kiba a smile, after the transformation wore off, he could see that Kiba was visibly sweating. Hoping to let Kiba conserve his pride, he quickly called on the next student.

"Nice work Kiba! Thats was very impressive, but, try not to do that too often, you don't have the chakra for it yet. Now, next up is… Aburame Shino. Please step up Shino".

As Kiba ended the jutsu and began to walk back, Shino took the initiative and started to head towards the field. Shino waited for the chattering to die down before he began.

Slowly, almost methodically, Shino began to rotate his arms around him. The class was a bit confused. Especially Naruto, Shino wasn't even doing any hand seals? Maybe he was just pretending to know some jutsu so he could look cool in front of everyone. 'Dammint, I should've done that', Naruto thought, a bit peeved that someone who didn't even know any jutsu was going to get props fro doing nothing.

However, what happened next shattered Naruto's delusion. Slowly, a black haze began to rise from Shino's sleeves. It continued until there was a sizeable mass of insects floating around Shino, moving in circles at the command of his arms. Suddenly, Shino stepped forward, at that command; the mass of insects suddenly lurched forward towards one of the training posts. At first, the post was completely obscured by the black haze of insects.

As the class watched in awe, and thinly veiled disgust, Shino recalled his insects. The post was completely gone. All that was left were some pieces of wood and torn cloth. The class cheered in amazement. That was a real ninjutsu. Several 'whoos' and 'yeahs' greeted Shino as he walked back to rejoin his classmates. 'Wow', thought Naruto, 'Man, I wish I was an Aburame. That way I could get all those cool bug thingies and TOTALLY beat everyone'.

Iruka joined in with the cheering by giving a few strong claps.

"Now then", Iruka continued, "Chouji, why don't you go next".

After a little hesitation, Chouji stepped forward. "Erm, I'm not very good at this, my dad only taught it to me last week. So, I might mess up", Chouji said slowly as he reached the center of the training field.

After a while, Chouji began to make hand seals. He then gathered his chakra and shouted, "**Bubun Baika no Jutsu**!" after which his arm began to expand at an amazing rate. Eventually, the entire crowd gasped as Chouji's arm was at least five times as big as him.

While the giant arm captivated the entire crowd, Iruka was focused on Chouji. He could see the amount of strain it put on his body. The poor boy seemed about ready to collapse. 'Alright, time to end it'.

"Nicely done! Chouji! It's very impressive that you can use this at your age", Iruka said sincerely. At his words, Chouji seemed to exhale in relief and immediately end the jutsu. As Chouji walked back to the crowd, he received several pats on the back and quite a few cheers as well.

"Alright, last up. Sasuke Uchiha", Iruka said as soon as Chouji returned to the crowd.

Everyone was silent at that. Sasuke Uchiha, resident rookie number one and the subject of desire for nearly every girl in the class, walked to the center of the field. As he reached the center, some of the more expressive members of the Uchiha Sasuke club began to swoon even though he hadn't done anything. It came to a point where Iruka had to tell them to shut up.

Then, it began. Sasuke slowly went through all of the required hand seals before sucking in a large amount of breath. Naruto was watching Sasuke carefully. 'Sasuke's the best in the class. Maybe I can get somethihg from this, he thought'. Iruka, the only person who recognized those particular hand seals, moved in to quickly stop Sasuke but before he could, Sasuke's stomach suddenly lurched and he released a grand fireball, nearly twenty feet in diameter that rocketed towards one of the training posts, literally obliterating it upon contact.

Everyone was stunnded. Slowly, the applause began, led by Iruka. Cheers and shouts greeted Sasuke as he turned around to face the class. This time, the performer did not go to the crowd, but the crowd seemed to run towards him. Even Iruka went over to Sasuke to tell him how impressed he was.

In the end, only Naruto was left behind. Lost in thought.

_Six Hours Later_

Naruto walked through the forest. He always came here to train. It was serene and calming, and more importantly, he could always count on no one else being here.

Today's ninjutsu demonstration had been an eye opener for Naruto. It showed him just how far behind he really had been. What kind of Hokage would he be if he weren't the best? The Hokage was the strongest; he had to be in order to protect the village. But, as it stood right now, Sasuke would not only wipe the floor with him, he would turn him into a charr-

'Wait, that's it!' Naruto exclaimed in his head. All he had to do was learn that huge fireball jutsu and he could totally wipe the floor with Sasuke.

Flinging aside his taijutsu homework, Naruto began to concentrate on his memory, he remembered the hand seals all right but there had to be something else.

After an hour of writing down everything he remembered, Naruto tried his best to practice the hand seals and do everything exactly as Sasuke had done.

After he was sure he had gotten the hand seals down, Naruto began to find a suitable place to practice.

He found a nice clearing where he was sure no one would interrupt him. 'Alright, time to put Sasuke in his place! Lets do this', he mentally screamed.

Taking his stance, he verbally began to go through the hand seals. Slowly building up his chakra in his throat, he said, "Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse and Tiger! **Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu**!"

Suddenly, Naruto exhaled the breath he had been holding in. However, the end result was _very _different from the desired one. Instead of a massive fireball, Naruto was greeted with an explosion right in his face and a face full of dirt.

Groaning, Naruto couldn't even move. The explosion had probably thrown him back hard enough to break something and his entire face felt like someone had try to fry it in oil.

After a while, Naruto slowly stood up. Taking in several deep breaths as he tried to account for anything broken. He checked himself over before touching his face; he winced as the burnt skin stung when touched.

'Okay…. That sucked ass. How the hell did Sasuke-teme even learn this in the first place?', Naruto thought as he tried to account for something he had possible missed or forgotten.

After standing up and brushing the dirt off him, Naruto contemplated what to do next. He could try again but all that would happen is that he'd fail. He'd fail over and over again no matter how many times he tried.

As Naruto began to pack up his things, an old memory suddenly resurfaced. He remembered a conversation with an old man atop the Hokage monument. A man that told him what it truly meant to be Hokage. 'A man that carries on not because he wished to, but because he must', that's right, how could he ever hope to be Hokage if he gave up here.

'No', Naruto mentally declared, dropping his things back onto the ground. 'I'll never give up. Not here, not ever. I'll learn this jutsu no matter what. And, if I'm doing that wrong, then I'll make this a godamn jutsu!'.

And so he would carry on, no matter what. He'd practice and practice until there wasn't anything left to practice.

_Four Months Later…_

Iruka was worried.

For the past four months, Naruto's attendance in class had rapidly declined. When he did show up; he was tired, injured and completely inattentive. As a result, Naruto's grades had begun to suffer alongside him. He had shot down from being one of the more 'ok' students to becoming a contender for dead last.

While Naruto had never been one of the best students in class, Iruka knew that it wasn't really his fault. Naruto's 'furry little problem' gave him awful chakra control. That meant his ninjutsu and genjutsu exams were often met with failure. However, despite his horrendous chakra control, Naruto was among the top students when it came to taijutsu, mainly because it was something he could actually see his improvement in unlike ninjutsu.

Today was an important day however; it was the day of the quarterly exams. It counted for 25% of a students overall grade. Despite this, Naruto was still not here. If he didn't reach the classroom in the next twenty seconds, then Iruka would have to officially give him a zero.

As Iruka prepared himself to give the local jinchuuuriki a fail, the door suddenly burst open to reveal a heavily bandaged Uzumaki Naruto who stumbled right in.

"I'M HERE!", Naruto shouted as the entire class erupted in laughter at his less than savory appearance. Even Iruka was stunned by Naruto's appearance. His black t-shirt was gone, replaced by a horrifyingly orange tracksuit; add that to the fact that nearly his entire face was covered in bandages, it was easy to see why the entire class was laughing.

"Oi Naruto, what are you wearing, man?" Kiba asked from his seat, obviously tying, and failing, to hold back laughter.

"Kiba, that's enough", Iruka silenced the class with a glare before moving on to Naruto.

"Naruto, _what are you wearing_ and what happened to your face?", Iruka questioned

Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head and said, "Well, my old shirt got burnt and as for my face, well I forgot that heat flows upwards."

The class was silent at that.

"O…kay?", Iruka said, despite not getting what the blonde was trying to convey at all, he continued, "Well, you're lucky, I was just about to fail you, now then, since we're all here now, lets head out to the training ground for the practical test".

At this, the class uprooted itself from their seats and began to follow Iruka's lead outside.

After assembling the class, Iruka began the test. First up was marksmanship. As he had expected, Sasuke Uchiha easily dominated that bracket, with Naruto surprisingly coming in second. That made Iruka pause for a second; Naruto had never been good at weaponry before? But, here he stood, having just beaten Shino, Hinata and several other top contenders for second place.

"Alright then everyone. Now, I know that we just started this four months ago, but, I hope everyone here is at least _comfortable _with the leaf sticking exercise?", Iruka asked the class and he crossed his arms over his chest. It was disappointing for Iruka to learn as an instructor that nearly a third of the class didn't have the exercise down.

As the test progressed, Iruka became more and more surprised with Naruto's efforts. While his chakra control was still horrendous, his agility and stealth had improved to the point where he came third in agility training and first in stealth training.

At long last, they had finally reached the final portion of the exam. Combat.

Usually, the children would not be paired against each other; they would demonstrate their skills against him or Mizuki, who was strangely out today. However, this year was a culling period of sorts. He was to report to the Hokage on the twelve more promising students who were top contenders for becoming genin.

"Alright, I know this is new, but today, you won't be fighting me. You'll be fighting each other. Now, I don't want any objections. You've all been paired with someone of your own skill level. The reason we're doing this is because you all need experience fighting other people.", Iruka proclaimed to the mass of students.

At first, no one really said anything, however, the silence was soon broken as people began to wonder exactly whom would they face off against.

"All right everyone, listen up", Iruka said. However, the muttering had turned into a full-on discussion.

"Ahem, everyone…", Iruka once again tried, and failed, to get their attention.

'Ok, this has gone on for long enough', though Iruka and he sucked in a large breath of air, "OI! LISTEN UP!".

_That _got their attention and everyone seemed to shut up in fear that the next stage would be Iruka's dreaded 'head expansion jutsu'.

"Ahem, now that you've all quieted down, we can finally begin", Iruka said with a disarming smile on his face, "Now then, the first matchup will be 'Sasuke Uchiha vs. …Naruto Uzumaki?". Wait, that wasn't right. He had purposely set Naruto up against Chouji, they were both good at taijutsu and Naruto's speed would allow him to deal with Chouji's imperfect expansion jutsu without getting hurt and Sasuke had been set up against Shino. Just what was going on?

Before Iruka could say anything, he noticed a tiny note at the bottom of his page.

_'Hey Iruka,_

_Hope you don't mind but I looked over the matchup list and saw that they were a bit unbalanced, so I switched a few people around._

_-Mizuki'_

What! He didn't remember giving Mizuki permission to do that? As he went over the list again, this time specifically looking for changes, all he saw was Naruto and Sasuke.

The class was silent at this. This was obviously not an even match. No one expected Naruto to win. It wasn't that Naruto was that bad, but that Sasuke was _that _good. Naruto might be a bit stealthier than him but in everything else, Sasuke had Naruto beat.

"Err, there seems to have been a bit of a mixu-", Iruke began, but he was soon interrupted by the resident knucklehead.

"YES! I finally get to put Sasuke-teme in his place!", Naruto exclaimed, full of enthusiasm at the oncoming brawl.

"Hmph. As if you could even scratch me dobe", Sasuke replied, clearly not as interested in the fight as Naruto.

The rest of the class retreated to the back, knowing a fight when they saw one. They did go to a _ninja _academy after all.

Just as Iruka was about to cancel the match, a thought struck him. Maybe this wasn't such a bad idea, if Naruto got it beaten into him by Sasuke, then maybe he might start taking his studies seriously.

"Alright then class, move back and let's start shall we? Naruto, Sasuke, are you two ready?", asked Iruka, a bit thrilled at the prospect of having a studious Naruto.

As he received the nod from both of them, he said, "Alright then. Both of you move to the ends of the field. Anything goes, except real weapons. You're allowed the use of blunted kunai and shuriken however. Now take your places and make the seal of confrontation."

As both of them bowed and made a half-tiger seal, Iruka shushin'd back and said, "Begin!".

Sasuke began the fight; he quickly and expertly released a volley of wooden shuriken upon Naruto, who did his best to maneuver out of their way. Using his own kunai, Naruto deflected a few of the shuriken that had come to close to his face.

Not willing to give Naruto a moment to compose himself and attack, Sasuke quickly sprinted forward, covering the distance between them in a second. Thinking quickly, Naruto brought his kunai forward to take several swipes at Sasuke. Sasuke scoffed internally and dodged each one of Naruto's swipes while looking for an opening.

Soon enough, the opportunity presented itself, while Naruto was busy trying to aim for Sasuke's head, Sasuke quickly dropped down and delivered a painful kick to Naruto's stomach, sending him several meters back and making him drop his kunai. Naruto took in several labored breaths before he managed to get back up on his feet.

'Man, that kick hurt. Sasuke-teme has one hell of a kick', Naruto thought as he unconsciously rubbed his torso.

Picking up Naruto's kunai, Sasuke smirked before saying, "I'd say your not bad, but, I'd hate to be a liar".

That infuriated Naruto. Just who did Sasuke think he was, just because he had a big fancy clan name didn't mean anything. He was going to enjoy pounding him into the ground.

'Alright, I need a new strategy. I can't beat him in taijutsu, best I can do is stall him. He's faster than me, and just as strong. I can't use that because I don't have a clear shot, all I can do is…', Naruto thought it over before quickly affirming the plan in his mind.

Sasuke, however, was not in a mood to let Naruto devise a plan and quickly charged forward. However, before his fist met its mark, he saw Naruto take out several black orbs and quickly fling them on the ground.

Suddenly, the entire field was full of thick, white smoke.

As Naruto disappeared into the smog, Sasuke put himself on full guard. Naruto could be quiet when he wanted to, and he'd made sure to cover the entire field so that there was no place to retreat to. Sasuke then heightened his senses. His eyes may be useless in this situation but his ears weren't, not by a long shot.

xxXxx

The entire class watched, completely captivated by the dynamic brawl that was unfurling in front of them. Just when it had seemed that Sasuke had cornered Naruto, Naruto had dropped a bomb on them when he had completely changed the battlefield to his liking.

"Man, I can't believe Naruto's doing this good, he might actually be worth something, eh Akamaru?", Kiba said out loud.

"While is indeed impressive Kiba, Naruto's rash move of using all of his smoke bombs in one attack has hindered him. It is widely know that smoke bombs only last for a maximum of five minutes. Therefore-", Shino began to finish his response only to be interrupted by Kiba.

"Yeah, yeah, we get it. He's only got five minutes to beat Sasuke, after that, he's toast.", Kiba interrupted, irritated at Shino's insistence to overcomplicate things.

"Well, it doesn't matter what he does, my Sasuke-Kun is still the best and he'll win no matter what!", exclaimed Ami.

At her voice, the other members of the Sasuke fan club began to shout their support for Sasuke, some even going as far as to chant 'Sasuke, Sasuke, he's our man. If he can't do it, no one can! Go...Sasuke!'

For once, Iruka was not bothered by the obnoxious displays that are fangrils. He was lost in thought.

'I don't belive it! Naruto's actually got the advantage over Sasuke?', this was completely unexpected for Iruka. He had expected Naruto to try and rush Sasuke and then get put down by him, and then he would be there to pick up the bruised and battered Naruto whose ego had just been shattered and then, he would finally be able to transform Naruto in a productive, dillgent and above all, _studious, _member of society.

xxXxx

Back inside the cloud of smog, Sasuke wasn't doing as well as his fangirls had hoped. Naruto hadn't wasted a moment, he had begun to use hit and run tactics against Sasuke, despite the fact that he had yet to land a hit on him, Sasuke couldn't keep this up. He was losing too much stamina fending off Naruto's blows.

He needed to finish this fast, maybe he could grab Naruto and them knock him out? No, he had been trying that for the last two minutes, Naruto was far to resilient and fast for Sasuke to get a hold on him. He could use a fireball to try and clear the smog, but unless he knew for sure that he had Naruto in his aim he wasn't going to waste all that chakra.

Naruto on the other hand was having the time of his life. Sure, he hadn't hit the smug faced bastard yet, but he was getting closer every time he tried. Sasuke was on the defensive and Naruto was going to pummel him from all angels.

But, he knew he couldn't keep this up forever, the smoke would clear soon and then Sasuke would be back with a vengeance. He needed to find a way to end this quick.

And then, it happened.

Sasuke was getting ready to deepen his senses once again so he could at least know from which general direction Naruto was going to attack from, as he got ready to push all his chakra to his ears, he was suddenly assaulted by the hellish noise, know as the bane of the Uchiha, fangirls.

'_Sasuke, Sasuke, he's our man. If he can't do it, no one can! Go...Sasuke!'_

The sound was horror incarnate to him. He couldn't even place the noise of Naruto's footsteps anymore. Dammint! Why did he have to get stuck with the worse curse on Earth?

To Naruto however, the sound was pure music. Sasuke could barely hear him before, and now he could barely hear himself thinking! Thank kami for fangrils. They may be completely awful kunoichi, but at least they knew the proper time to be a burden!

Naruto readied himself. The smoke was just about to begin to thin. After that, he wouldn't have a chance to attack at all. This was it, do or die in this case. He had a clear shot at Sasuke but was unsure on where to attack from, Sasuke guarded his back religiously, his left and right angles had already been tested and met with failure. If he was going to do this, it had to be now. The fangirls were hiding his presence better than the fog.

Naruto carefully took aim, and then broke into a run, using every ounce of stealth in his body he made sure that he was perfectly quiet and then as he was within grabbing distance of Sasuke, he jumped.

Depsite the fact that the fangirls had reduced his hearing ability to virtually nothing, Sasuke got the feeling that Naruto was going to aim for his back. When he finally heard the step behind him, he turned around, eyes flashing, looking for any trace of Naruto. But, there was none. Or at least, that's what he _had _thought, right up until the foot smashed directly into his face from the air.

Sasuke flew out of the smog, luckily, there was a well-placed tree that gave him time to flip in midair, reorient himself and avoid falling on his face. Now that the smog had begun to dissipate, it was time to put Naruto in his place.

While the plan had not put Sasuke out of commission like Naruto had hoped it would. It had certainly made him feel good to see Sasuke's feet under his sandals.

"What's wrong Sasuke-teme, too much to handle?" Naruto taunted.

Sasuke's eyes flashed in anger before he responded, "Hmph. Hardly, don't think you're that good just because you got one good hit".

Naruto's smirk only widened at that, 'no comeback eh?' he thought. However, before he could formulate a plan, Sasuke was suddenly in front of him, lashing out with furious taijutsu moves that would have easily overwhelmed any average academy.

Naruto was not, however, just any academy student. He was one of the best in the class in taijutsu. His form wasn't as good as Sasuke and he sure as hell wasn't that fast but he was tough as stone and could take one hell of a beating. But, Naruto knew that he couldn't stay on the defensive forever, Sasuke was forcing him back, making him dodge and parry his moves to simply avoid getting hit. If this kept up, Naruto would be done for.

Naruto needed to get away from Sasuke, but every time he jumped away, Sasuke would let loose a barrage of kunai and shuriken that would allow Sasuke to force Naruto to move and then attack him in midair.

'Dammint, this isn't good!' Naruto thought, 'Soon enough he's gonna get me and then he-'.

A bone shattering puch that broke it's way through Naruto's guard interrupted Naruto's thoughts. Naruto was flung back to the other end of the field. Unlike Sasuke however, there was no convenient tree that intercepted his fall.

xxXxx

"Ouch, that looked like it hurt", Chouji said as they all saw Naruto thrown flung by the sheer force of Sasuke's punch.

"Yeah, no kidding", added Kiba.

"WOO HOO SASUKE!" shouted Sakura from the sidelines, soon enough, much to the annoyance of most of the male students, the entire Sasuke fan club soon joined in.

'It's over now', Iruka thought. 'Naruto doesn't have any more smoke bombs and he doesn't have anything that Sasuke isn't expecting. Well, at least I learnt something from this, there's more to Naruto than I thought.

xxXxx

Meanwhile in the midst of the battle, Sasuke began to prepare himself for a counterattack from Naruto. Just as he had expected, Naruto charged forward in rage, however, this time his moves were much more sloppy. Sasuke had no problem dodging him and giving him a deadly knee strike to the stomach.

Naruto's eyes bulged out as Sasuke's knee planted itself in his stomach. The force behind it left him unable to move for a while, before he regained his senses and jumped back. 'This isn't working, no matter what I do, he's better at me that it', Naruto thought as he subconsciously reached towards his back pocket.

Suddenly, without warning, Sasuke attacked. Naruto, who was unprepared, flung a kunai at him. However, in his haste, Naruto had forgotten that this was one of the kunai that he usually reserved for hunting, sharpened to a deadly point, the kunai whizzed past Sasuke's cheek, stopping him in his tracks.

xxXxx

"NARUTO! WHAT WAS THAT! I SPECIFICALLY SAID NO SHARP WEAPONS!" Iruka thundered at Naruto.

xxXxx

Sasuke was speechless. This lowly idiot had nearly killed him. He had been spared by just an inch…

"Yo, Sasuke, sorr-", Naruto began but was quickly interrupted by Sasuke.

"Well? You want to play with kunai Naruto? You want to _really _fight?" Sasuke asked him in a low, threatening tone.

Taking offense at that, Naruto responded, "What do you mean 'really' fight? We've been doing that for the pas-". Naruto's eyes widened as he recognized the string of hand seals Sasuke had begun to preform.

Thinking quickly, Naruto quickly jumped back, while at the same time matching Sasuke's seals and together, they both released the force of their jutsu.

"**Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu**!" they both shouted as identical fireballs sprang from their throats.

xxXxx

The entire audience watched, completely captivated as the two enormous, and near identical fireballs collided, each battling for dominance.

Out of the entire audience, none was more surprised than Umino Iruka. For a man who had prided himself on knowing everything about the capabilities of his students, it was an extreme surprise to see that Naruto Uzumaki, a middle of the run shinobi, was somehow able to perform the one of the Uchiha's prized techniques.

'Naruto? Just what have you been hiding this whole time?'

xxXxx

Sasuke was surprised. He, in a fit of anger, had decided to turn Naruto in a crispy, barbequed Naruto, that plan had however backfired. Naruto had stolen _his _jutsu.

Forcing himself to bear on, Naruto continuously charged his fireball will more and more chakra. He had learnt, the hard way, that overcharging a fireball would cause it to explode, but giving it a steady stream of chakra would cause it to slowly become stronger. The effects were visible, slowly and steadily; Naruto's jutsu was overpowering Sasuke's. All he had to do was wait it out and constantly supply a steady stream of chakra and then he could wipe the smirk off Sasuke's charred face.

xxXxx

That was enough.

The second Sasuke began the hand seals for the fireball technique; Iruka was prepared to jump in and save Naruto from becoming a smoking husk on the ground. However, he had been momentarily stunned to see Naruto imitate Sasuke and create his own fireball.

'That's enough, I need to stop these two now!', thought Iruka.

"Everyone! Get back, now!" Iruka quickly commanded to the rest of the class.

"But sensei-", someone began; however, Iruka didn't have the time to explain.

"I said move back! That's an order!", Iruka finalized. Without another word, he quickly jumped into the field joining Naruto and Sasuke. Taking up his position, he began to run through hand seals at a near invisible speed, as soon as he finished, he shouted, "**Suiton: Mizurappa**!" Quickly shooting a massive torrent of water out of his mouth, that easily dwarfed the two fireballs, he shot it directly towards the colliding fireballs, and the result was a massive explosion of boiling hot steam.

Iruka reacted before the steam had a chance to spread and cause harm to the two shinbi, quickly going through another chain of hand seals, he shouted, "**Fūton: Daitoppa**!", at those words, he held out his hands and summoned a great burst of wind, dispelling the steam.

Iruka let out a sigh of relief, before walking over to the two boys, as he reached them, he said, "What on Earth were you two thinking? You both could've died!"

Naruto smiled and said, "Heh! Sasuke-teme's just mad because I know his big fancy jutsu now. How does that fee-".

Naruto's speech was interrupted by an impossibly fast strike to the stomach from Sasuke. Naruto's eyes bulged out and Sasuke continued attacking at thrice his usual speed, aiming for every inch of Naruto he could hit. Naruto was powerless against him until Iruka stepped in and pulled the two boys apart.

"WHAT ARE YOU TWO DOING! ENOUGH! Detention for both of you!" Iruka shouted as he pulled the two apart.

As he was just about to reprimand Sasuke for completely disregarding the fact that this was a friendly spar and not a battle between enemy shinobi, Iruka was stunned as he took a good look at Sasuke's face, particularly his eyes.

"Sasuke… your eyes…", began Iruka, too stunned to continue.

Sasuke look at Iruka in surprise, completely aware of what he meant. Quickly taking out a kunai, he was shocked to see the pride of the Uchiha clan staring back at him. The Sharingan.

Naruto, on the other hand, had just taken quite the beating, his face was bruised and battered and he didn't know why but he was pretty sure there were some little yellow birds flying around his head.

xxXxx

After their detention was over, the two boys were left alone in the classroom. They had been forced clean _all _of the chalkboard erasers in the school. _ All _of them. It had taken the better part of four hours, but at long last they were finally done.

"Alright, you both are dismissed, and remember what you learned here today. You do not, under any circumstances, attack a fellow shinobi. Also, since you both failed the practical today for your complete disregard of the rules, you better study hard for the written test tomorrow if you want to pass", Iruka said as they handed in the box full of erasers.

"Hai Sensei", they both replied in unison.

"Good, now, I'll see you two tomorrow", Iruka said as he picked up his bag and headed for the exit.

The two ninja hopefuls began to pack up their things in silence, until the most unlikely person to speak, broke the silence.

"Naruto, do you know why I'm not putting a kunai in you head for stealing one of my clan techniques?" Sasuke asked Naruto, blatantly ignoring the fact that the exact lesson Iruka was trying to teach them was' You do not, under any circumstances, attack a fellow shinobi'.

"C'mon teme, I didn't know it was a clan jutsu!" Naruto sheepishly retorted.

"Hmph. It's because you using the jutsu, helped me unlock my sharingan. By the way, how did you learn the jutsu anyway?" Sasuke asked.

"Huh? Well it took me around a month but I got it down. I also managed to learn to how to do some really cool stuff with the jutsu", Naruto responded.

"Hmph. A month? It took me a week", Sasuke replied, a smug look on his face.

"Hey! That's because you had someone teaching you!" Naruto retorted, obviously angry at being seen as inferior to Sasuke.

However, he knew he had said something wrong. Sasuke simply stopped in his tracks.

"Hey Sasuke? You alright?" Naruto questioned.

"Yeah… I'm fine. By the way, where do you train? I never saw you using that jutsu on the academy training field before?", Sasuke questioned, hoping to change the topic.

"Huh? Well, there's this forest, near training ground number 22, I usually train there", Naruto replied, a bit confused at Sasuke's abrupt change of topic.

After that neither of them said anything. They walked together until they needed to split their paths; neither of them even even spared the other a goodbye.

_Three Days Later_

The sound of metal striking wood rang out through the forest. Naruto Uzumaki was doing his best to improve his marksmanship today. Suddenly sensing danger from behind, Naruto quickly jumped out of the trajectory of a speeding shuriken aimed for his back.

Suddenly on the defensive, Naruto shouted, "Who's out there! I know you're there!".

He was completely flabbergasted when he was the person he least expected walk out of the shadows.

"So, this is where you train?" Sasuke said, a bit peeved at the small size of the clearing.

"Sasuke? What're you doing here?" Naruto asked, more than a bit surprised at seeing him here.

"I came to spar", Sasuke simply stated.

"What? With me?" Naruto asked, even mor esurpirsed t his reason for coming.

"Noooo, with the trees. Of course with you, idiot!", Sasuke retorted, a bit irritated at Naruto's idiocy.

Naruto shot him a dry look before saying, "I get that but, why? You never wanted to fight me before, so why now?"

Sasuke paused for a minute, seeming thinking it over. He then let out a sigh and said, "Because, you're the only person worth fighting. And, I need to test my sharingan."

That made Naruto pause. Sasuke Uchiha, resident genius and budding child prodigy, thought he Naruto Uzumaki, resident contender for dead last, was the _only _person worth fighting?

Then a grin broke out over Naruto's face and he said, "Well Sasuke, who am I to deny you the chance to get your ass kicked?", while taking a defensive stance.

Sasuke smirked and said, "Yeah right. Try to fight this time instead of just hiding".

For the next year, Sasuke and Naruto trained regularly, becoming far stronger than either of them could have hoped to reach alone. Naruto had even helped Sasuke mature his Sharingan to its final stage.

After one year, their usual training area was taken over by the Builder's Guild. Due the fact that Academy Students are not given any special training areas like Genin squads are, Sasuke decided to invite Naruto to his home, to where they continued to practice.

Naruto wasn't sure whether he could call Sasuke a friend; he knew that they at least had some semblance of respect for each other. But, wouldn't calling them friends speak of having something more than just mutual respect?

Nevertheless, Naruto didn't care. Training with Sasuke had helped him get much stronger than he would have been able to on his own.

_Back to the Present_

"And that is why the battle at Tenchi Bridge became the turning point in the Third Great Shinobi War. Now then class, tomorrow is the day you've all been waiting for. Tomorrow is the graduation exam. I expect you all to be here on time tomorrow, lateness will not be excused. If you're late you fail. Got it?", Iruka asked, making sure to sound authoritative at the end.

His comment was met with a round of nods and 'hai sensei'. Satisfied he had gotten his point across, Iruka dismissed the class.

As soon as Iruka dismissed them, the entire class uprooted itself, animatedly chatting about tomorrow. Naruto on the other hand, was completely silent.

Sasuke, sensing Naruto's downcast mood, asked, "So how many bushin can you make so far?", despite already knowing the answer.

Naruto sighed and replied, "Just one! And, even making that one is tough. I managed to do it last week but yesterday, I totally messed up".

Sasuke looked thoughtful for a moment before nodding. "Alright then, no training today by the way. I have some stuff I got to take care of. See you", Sasuke added before heading for the door, leaving Naruto alone in the empty classroom.

Naruto sat there for a while, contemplating what would happen if he failed. Sauske would leave him in the dust, training with an elite jonin while he was stuck in the academy, he'd never become Hokage and he could most likely kiss his dreams good bye if he failed.

'No', Naruto thought. 'I'll pass, and I'll become Hokage no matter what!', steeling his conviction, Naruto headed for the door. He needed to practice. The exam was tomorrow and he couldn't waste a moment of the time he had.

Tomorrow, Naruto would take his first step forward to becoming Hokage.

xxXxx

All right, there it is. So everyone comment and review and tell me how it is. Since this is my first story, flames are welcome!

When I say that, I mean flames on my writing style and grammar are welcome but not on the story's premise.

xxXxx

**Jutsu List**

**Jūjin Bunshin: **Beast Human Clone

Beast Human Clone is a modified and mixed version of the Transformation Technique and clone technique, which is unique to the Inuzuka clan. It allows a canine-user to transform their animal companion into a perfect copy of themselves. When combined with the Four Legs Technique, the user and the animal become virtually impossible to tell apart, since both act equally feral. Like any transformation, identifying and attacking the animal, thus dispelling the transformation, can break the technique. This technique is often followed by the Fang Passing Fang.

**Bubun Baika no Jutsu: **Partial Multi-Size Technique

A practical application of the Multi-Size Technique, which lets one expand their body. The point of swelling a single part of the body is to use the weight to increase the power of one's physical attacks. Any bodily part may be augmented this way, but for ease of use the arms and legs tend to be chosen quite frequently. The speed of the expansion is exceedingly sudden, which makes it extremely difficult to avoid. Like the majority of the Akimichi clan's techniques, this one requires a considerable amount of chakra. Because of this one may choose to use one of the Three Coloured Pills.

**Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu: **Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique

A technique where chakra kneaded inside the body is converted into fire and expelled from the mouth either as a massive orb of roaring flame or as a continuous flame-thrower. Controlling the volume of chakra that is mustered alters the scope of the attack. The released flames will engulf their target, and leave a crater on the ground's surface. This technique apparently requires more than average chakra reserves and most genin should not be able to do this technique.

The Uchiha clan also uses this technique as a "coming of age" rite and as such was a common and one of the more favoured techniques amongst them.

**Suiton: Mizurappa: **Water Release: Water Trumpet

The user launches a large jet of water from their mouth through their hand. This gives the appearance of playing a trumpet, hence the name.

**Fūton: Daitoppa: Wind Release: Great Breakthrough**

This is a relatively simple technique that creates a sudden gust of wind, but its scale varies greatly depending on the user. If used by a superior shinobi, it has enough destructive power to knock down a large tree. The wind from the squall can blow away all things in the user's line of sight. A variation of the technique involves a smaller blast of wind, which gets ignited along with the flame.


End file.
